Jehovah Tsebaioth, The Lord of Hosts (Commander of the Lord’s army) By Rachelle Alspaugh

I’ll never forget those words. Of course we realized it, but we also knew God opened the door for us to pursue this adoption a second time. He already knew the final outcome and would walk with us to make it happen. We held firm to our faith in those beginning days as we began the process all over again to finally adopt our son.

Yet what a long, tiring year lay ahead of us. International adoption can be an insane process. So many deadlines that don’t match each other. So many clearances. Too many people involved in each step that have nothing to do with the people involved in any other step. Expenses mounting for every little detail.

So many “hurry up and wait” instances. Rush, rush, rush to get one document done in time, then wait for days, weeks, or months to proceed to the next step.

Add the anxiety of knowing we did it all once before only to hit a dead end, and there’s a panic attack waiting to happen.

Several months into the process, I felt depleted and worn thin. I didn’t even want to continue down such a stressful path.

Then I heard His voice.

“My child, when did I ever ask you to fight this battle? It’s not your battle to fight. It’s mine. Climb upon my shoulders and let me fight this for you.”

I still had to chase all the documents, pay all the fees, wait through all the timelines, make all the phone calls, and communicate with all the right people. But when I realized who fought the real battle, the actual burden of it all began to lift itself from my shoulders.

Only one person could sway the final decision in our favor and truly bring our son home to us.

God is the Lord of Hosts, the commander of the army. Sometimes He puts a God-sized battle in front of us because it’s not our battle to fight. It’s His.

***

We finally received our official approval to adopt our son. God did it. He swayed the decision to be in our favor this time. Something they once said could not be done.

Now we had to figure out how to pay for the rest of the adoption process, including the rest of the agency fees, the legal fees, travel fees, and lodging expenses for at least a month or more in Colombia.

Another monster. Outside of getting a loan, we had no extra resources to fund it.

“We have a group connected to our agency that might be willing to offer you a grant. I think they may offer you around one or two thousand dollars if you qualify. Let me send you the application.”

The director of our agency knew we’d depleted our resources with our first adoption attempt, so she seemed eager to find a way to help. We filled out the application, wrote a summary of our situation, and waited.

Not only did we qualify for the grant, but they gave us a full $3,000 rather than the maximum of $2,000 we thought we might get. That covered over half of our agency fees.

We’d applied for so many other grants and didn’t qualify, yet we didn’t even know this particular grant even existed. God did, though.

In addition to our agency fees, we still needed to pay to have our documents translated. Someone walked up beside us after church one evening and asked how much we needed to pay because she’d like to help out with some of it. A few days later, she sent a check in the mail for the entire $600 fee.

About eight weeks later, the details finally fell into place for us to travel to Colombia. We made arrangements for a friend to take care of all four of our pets for at least two weeks and wrote her a check to pay her ahead of time. As soon as we wrote her the check, another unexpected check came in the mail from someone for the exact amount we’d just paid for pet care.

We found a furnished apartment to stay in for at least a month, so we quickly booked it for four weeks and paid a little over a thousand dollars. Within days of leaving, a check for $1,000 came in the mail from someone at church who said they’d like to help with our lodging expenses. Then another check arrived for $500 more from a different couple.

We kept writing checks and paying fees, while God continued sending checks from various people in almost identical amounts.

A week before we left, we purchased our airline tickets (on a borrowed credit card) for a few thousand dollars, then drove four hours to Houston to obtain our adoption visa. While driving back home, my phone rang.

“I’m just calling to let you know that our grant committee has decided to award your family with $2,500 to help with your travel expenses. I hear that you’re getting ready to leave and need the money quickly, so I’m sending the check in the mail today.”

A grant we’d been awarded during our first adoption attempt but then lost when the adoption fell through. God preserved that exact amount for nearly three years, knowing precisely when we’d need it.

The money appeared at all the right times, covering every single expense. It was never our battle to fight this financial monster. God knew all along that we didn’t have the money to fund the adoption, but when we acted in faith, He never ceased to provide. He gets all the credit.

Jehovah Tsebaioth, The Lord of Hosts, Commander of the army. (Joshua 5:13-15)

I love how God built your faith and trust in Him as He provided for your adoption! How Jesus must have delighted in your joy and amazement as you saw Him take care of your needs over and over. Thank-you for writing such a beautiful testimony!